Garbage comminuting apparatus



Jan. 31, 1950 A. w. RICHARDS 2,495,933

GARBAGE COMMINUTING APPARATUS Filed May 7, 1946 2 She e'ts-Sheet lINVENTOR. flea/5e W E/cwneas BY 1950 A. w. RICHARDS GARBAGE COMMINUTINGAPPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 7, 1946 176. 5 INVENTOR.

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Patented Jan. 31, 1950 GARBAGE COMMINUTING APPARATUS Archer W. Richards,Chagrin Falls, Ohio, assignor to Lockley Machine Company, New Castle,Pa.,

a corporation of Pennsyl vania Application May 7, 1946, Serial No.667,812

1 Claim.

This invention relates to waste disposal devices of the kind used indisposing of kitchen waste or garbage and aims to provide an improveddevice 01' this character in which jamming is substantially eliminated.

The garbage grinding devices heretofore provided are subject to thedisadvantage that jamming of the rotor frequently occurs during startingof the device and particularly if bones or other hard objects arecontained in the waste material. The jamming may also occur at timesother than during the starting of the device. When a comminuting deviceof this kind the rotor will initially be driven at a slow speed and therotor and driving motor will not then have the momentum that they dowhen the motor has acquired its full operating speed. If a bone or otherhard object happens to come between the comminuting elements of therotor and housing during this starting condition, it will be very likelyto cause jamming of the rotor and the further operation of the devicewill be prevented until the jammed condition can be corrected.

The present invention provides simple and effective means by which suchjamming of the rotor of a device of this kind will be minimized oreliminated.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved comminutingdevice in which the projection or projections of the rotor whichcooperate with the stationary comminuting element 01' the housing havean inclination on the leading side thereof which will cause the materialto be pushed or deflected away from the stationary comminuting elementsduring slow speeds of rotation for the rotor, such that theobjectionable jamming of the rotor heretofore encountered dur ingstarting of the device is substantially eliminated.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved constructionfor a comminuting device in which the inclination of the rotorprojections is such that it tends to relieve the load during starting bypushing the material away from the wall of the comminuting chamberduring low rotor speeds, but during high rotor speeds will permit thematerial to be moved toward or held against the wall of the chamber bycentrifugal force.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improvedcomminuting device of the character mentioned in which the inclinationof the leading or material engaging face of the rotor projection is onthe order of ten degrees and in which the stationary shredding elementscomprise spiral ridges and/or a series of substantially spirallydisposed toothed shredding blades.

The invention can be further briefly summarized as consisting in certainnovel combinais being started up,'

2 tions and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and particularlyset out in the appended c aim.-

In the accompanying sheets of drawings Fig. 1 is an elevational view ofa comminuting device embodying the present invention, the device beingshown with certain portions thereof in vertical section;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken through the comminutingsection of the device and looking downwardly toward the rotor asindicated by section line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken mainly through the dischargesection of the device and looking upwardly toward the rotorsubstantially as indicated by section line 3-3 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a partial plan view of the rotor, the view being somewhatdiagrammatic in form and further illustrating the inclination of thematerial engaging face of one of the rotor projections; and Fig. 5 is apartial plan view of the rotor similar to Fig. 4 but showing a modifiedconstruction.

The drawings show the present invention applied to a comminuting deviceIn which is of the type intended for use in disposing of kitchen wastematerial or garbage. The comminuting device ID is here shown as beingsuspended from a kitchen sink or similar plumbing fixture Ill. Thedevice includes a housing l2 whose upper end is connected with the sinkII as by means of a suitable mounting sleeve or fitting l3, a levelingring I4 and clamping screws l5.

In the device here illustrated, the housing l2 comprises three mainhousing sections, these being an inlet section l2a, a comminutingsection I21) and a discharge section [20. The inlet sec tion 12a has adownwardly enlarging feed passage IS therein whose upper endcommunicates with the interior of the sink ll through the passage of themounting sleeve [3. The comminuting section l2b contains a comminutingchamber ll of a tapered or downwardly enlarging shape and which forms adownward continuation of the feed passage IS. The comminuting chamber I!can be defined directly by the annular wall of the housing section IZb,or preferably as here shown, is defined by a tapered sleeve insert l8which is coaxially retained in the housing section lib.

The comminuting chamber I1 is also defined in part by a cone-shaped diskrotor l9 which is located adjacent the lower end of the liner [8 andforms the bottom wall of the comminuting chamber. The rim or peripheraledge 20 of the rotor is spaced from the wall of the liner l8 andcooperates therewith in defining an annular discharge passage 22 throughwhich the ground material passes from the comminuting chamber into thedischarge chamber 23 of the housing section "0. The rotor carries one ormore axial projections or lugs l9a which extend upwardly into thecomminuting chamber and sweep around the wall thereof for a purposewhich is explained more fully hereinafter. The projections are locatedin peripheral slots I 9b of the rotor and are retained therein by thescrews I90.

As mentioned above, the housing section I20 is the discharge section andhas a discharge nozzle or spout 24 through which the ground material isdischarged from the chamber 23 into a drain connection of the plumbingsystem. The rotor l9 preferably has vanes or blades 25 on the undersidethereof which act to pump .or expel the ground material through thedischarge nozzle 24. The housing section l2c may also form a portion ofthe housing of an electric motor 26 which drives the device. This motoris disposed with its shaft 21 extending upwardly into the comminutingchamber l1 and the rotor I9 is keyed,

or otherwise connected, to the shaft to be driven thereby.

The housing sections I21; and I2?) have their adjacent ends connectedtogether by means of bolts 28 and with a yieldable packing ring orgasket 29 clamped therebetween. The adjacent ends of the housingsections l2?) and I20 are connected together by means of the bolts 30and with a yieldable packing ring or gasket 3! disposed therebetween. Anadditional gasket 32 may be used between the connected ends of thehousing sections HI) and l2c. The packing rings 23 and 31 are engaged byopposite ends of the liner l8 and form a vibration absorbing means whichretains the liner in the desired position in the housing section I211.

The comminuting chamber l? is provided with stationary comminuting orshredding elements and, in this instance, there are two sets of theseshredding elements and both sets are carried by the liner l8. One set ofthe shredding elements comprises the axially spaced spirally extendingshredding ridges 33 which have relatively sharp cutting edges 33 on oneside thereof. The ridges 33 are disposed so that their cutting edges 34are prevented toward the material which is being propelled or whirled inthe comminuting chamber by the rotation of the rotor E9. The other setof shredding elements comprises a substantially spirally extendingseries of shredding blades 35 which are mounted in slots 36 of the linerI8 and have their outer edges 31 in seating engagement with the outerwall of the housing section I217. The inner edges of these shreddingblades can be straight, or may be arcuate as here shown, and carry teethor serrations 38 and project into the comminuting chamber H.

The slots 36 in which the blades are mounted are located between pairsof the shredding ridges 33 and are disposed substantially on a spiralline having a reverse slope with respect to the ridges.

By locating the shredding blades between the ridges 33 on such a reversespiral, they will be very effective in preventing waste material fromfollowing the ridges 33 without being subjected to a completecomminuting action. The blades 35 are here shown as being four innumber, al-

tion of rotation of the rotor la. The teeth or serrations 38 on thenarrow end of these three blades project into the comminuting chamberapproximately the same distance as the shredding ridges 33 while theteeth at the wide end of these blades project into the comminutingchamber a distance somewhat greater than the shredding ridges. Duringthe rotation of the rotor I! in the direction indicated by the arrow llthe rotor projections I911 sweep around the annular portion of the wallof the comminuting chamber on which the shredding blades 35 are locatedand the clearance space 42 between the blades and projections willdecrease in width as the projections move along the blades toward theirwide ends 40. This decreasing width for the clearance spaces 42 willproduce a more effective comminuting action on the material.

' It will also be observed that the teeth or serrations 38 of all of theshredding blades 35 are inclined with respect to a true radial line ofthe comminuting chamber so that they point substantially in a directionopposite to the direction of rotation of the rotor. The inclination ofthese teeth in this direction also results in a more effectivecomminuting action.

The shredding blade 35d can be of the same shape as the blades 35a, 35band 35c, or as here shown, can be of uniform width throughout its lengthso that the teeth or serrations 38 all extend into the comminutingchamber for the same distance which in this case is substantially thesame distance as the shredding ridges 33. All of the shredding blades 35have tapered extensions 43 at their ends which cooperate with the endsof the slots 36 in a manner to prevent the blades from passingcompletely through the liner. The invention herein disclosedcontemplates that the shredding ridges 33 can be used alone, that is,without the shredding blades 35 and conversely the blades 35 could beused without the ridges 33 if desired and in the latter-case the spiralline on-which the blades are disposed would have substantially the samedirection and slope,

, with respect to the direction of rotation of the rotor, as theridges33.

As indicated above, an important feature of the present invention is theprevention of jamming of the rotor and this is effectively accomplishedby providing. the rotor projections I3a with an inclined materialengaging face 15 on the leading side thereof. The inclined face 45 isthe same on each of the projections Na and the inclination should' besuch that during low speeds of operation of the rotor, such as duringthe starting of the device, this face will act to push or deflectmaterial inwardly or away from the wall of the comminuting chamber. Thisaction will tend to unload the rotor because the material will beshifted away from effective engagement with the shredding elements 33and 35. Moreover, if bones or other hard particles are conthough anysuitable number of these blades can be provided.

In the arrangement here shown, the blades 35a, 35b and 35c are 'of anidentical construction and each of these blades has a narrow end 39 anda wide end 40 and is disposed so that the narrow end extends in adirection opposite to the directained in the material, they will thus beprevented from becoming jammed between the rotor projections and theshredding elements during the starting operation when the momentum ofthe-rotor is relatively low.

The inclination of the material engaging face 45 should also be suchthat during operation of the rotor at higher speeds, such as at the fullor rated operating speed of the driving motor 26, the material will beshifted outwardly by centrifugal force and will be pressed or heldagainst the wall of the comminuting chamber while the material is beingwhirled by the rotor. In other words, the inclination of the face 45should be such that during high speeds of operation the tendency todeflect the material inwardly will be overcome by centrifugal force withthe result that the material will be held against the shredding elementsand will be subjected to an effective comminuting action.

The inclination of the face 45 of the rotor projection He can beselected or varied to suit the requirements of different types ofmaterial to be treated in the device but for comminuting kitchen wasteor ordinary garbage an inclination on the order of ten degrees has beenfound to produce a very satisfactory operation. As shown in thedrawings, and particularly in Fig. 4, the inclination of the face '45 issuch that it slopes inwardly and rearwardly with respect to thedirection of rotation and the true radial line 46 of the comminutingchamber. When the radial line 46 is drawn so as to pass through theupright outer corner 41 of the rotor projection l9a, the materialengaging face 45 will define therewith an angle 48, which is the angleof inclination mentioned above as being on the order of ten degrees. Theinclined face 45 may be further defined as lying in an upright planewhich is substantially normal to the general horizontal plane ofrotationof the rotor l9 and which is inclined inwardly and rearwardlywith respect to the radial line 46.

In the construction above described the recesses l9b of the rotor 19 aresquare or straight, that is to say, they extend radially of the rotorand the lower portions of the projections l9a engaging in these recessesare correspondingly shaped. When this construction is employed theworking face 45 can be machined to the desired angle of inclination. Aseparate machining operation for this purpose can be eliminated,however, when the modified construction of Fig. is used. In the modifiedconstruction the slots 50 of the rotor 5| are formed therein with theinclination, relative to a true radial line 52, which is desired for theworking face 53 of the rotor projections 54. This inclination can be thesame as provided by the angle 48 mentioned above. With the modifiedconstruction the working face 53 of the projection 54 is straight orflush with the base portion which engages in the slot 50 and cantherefore be machined as a part of the same operation by which the baseportion is machined.

As is understood by those skilled in this art, the comminuting action ofthe device above described is best carried out with water flowingthrough the device while the comminution is taking place.

From the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings it will nowbe readily understood that the present invention provides an improvedconstruction for comminuting devices and particularly for devices ofthis kind which are intended for disposing of kitchen waste material orgarbage. the inclination of the material engaging face of the rotorprojection or projections, as explained above, will effectively preventjamming of the rotor and will enable the device to handle all types ofgarbage regardless of whether it contains bones or other hard pieces.

Although the improved comminuting device of the present invention hasbeen illustrated and described herein in considerable detail, theinvention is not to be regarded as limited correspondingly in scope butincludes all changes and modifications coming within the scope of theappended claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

In a garbage grinding device of the type having an upright workingchamber defined by an annular wall and a power driven disk rotor locatedadjacent the lower end of said annular wall, spiral shredding ridges onsaid wall and projecting into said chamber, a series of spaced shreddingblades carried by said wall and having serrated edges projecting intosaid chamber, the blades of said series being located substantially on aline having a reverse slope with respect to said ridges, and a materialimpelling projection carried by said rotor and adapted to sweep aroundsaid chamber adjacent said wall, said projection having on the leadingside thereof a. material engaging face which is inclined rearwardly andinwardly with respect to a true radial line of said chamber.

ARCHER. W. RICHARDS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS It will be understood further that

